1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioning system and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly to an air conditioning system having a plurality of indoor units installed inside of a predefined space and an outdoor unit installed outside of the space for controlling the indoor units, wherein the outdoor unit can simply set addresses in the indoor units, and a method for controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a multi-air conditioner signifies an air conditioning system consisting of one outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units. For the purpose of attaining an efficient operation of the multi-air conditioner, the outdoor unit must be able to identify the plurality of indoor units, respectively, to control them.
For identification, the plurality of indoor units are typically assigned, respectively, numbers, or addresses. For example, the indoor units may be numbered 1, 2, 3, . . . , n. The outdoor unit can exchange data with the plurality of indoor units by recognizing their respective numbers.
An example of conventional constructions for transmission and reception of data between an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units assigned numbers as mentioned above is shown in FIG. 1, which is a block diagram of a conventional air conditioning system. As shown in this drawing, the conventional air conditioning system comprises an outdoor unit 1, and a plurality of indoor units 2 each connected to the outdoor unit 1 via a communication line 5. The outdoor unit 1 includes a microcomputer 3 for controlling the entire operation of the outdoor unit 1, and each of the indoor units 2 includes a microcomputer 4 for controlling the entire operation of a corresponding one of the indoor units 2.
The outdoor unit 1 and each of the indoor units 2 exchange control information and various control signals, such as ON/OFF signals, with each other over the communication line 5. In particular, the outdoor unit 1 recognizes numbers assigned respectively to the plurality of indoor units, so as to determine which one of the indoor units currently exchanges data therewith. In other words, the outdoor unit can control the plurality of indoor units individually owing to the previous recognition of information about respective numbers and positions of the indoor units. As a result, the outdoor unit can control a specific one of the indoor units with, for example, the ON signal on the basis of a number and position of the specific indoor unit.
A dip switch 6 is conventionally provided in each of the indoor units 2 to set a number of a corresponding one of the indoor units 2 to be recognized by the outdoor unit 1. An installer sets a number in each indoor unit using the dip switch 6 on the spot where each indoor unit is installed. Once a corresponding number is set by means of the dip switch 6, each of the indoor units 2 transfers information regarding the set number to the microcomputer 3 of the outdoor unit 1. As a result, the outdoor unit microcomputer 3 can control a specific one of the plurality of indoor units by recognizing the set numbers of the indoor units, respectively.
In the above-mentioned air conditioning system, however, the installer must personally assign the respective numbers to the plurality of indoor units using the dip switches. For this reason, a larger number of indoor units may result in a higher probability for the installer to manipulate the dip switches erroneously, causing indoor unit numbers to be duplicated or misread.
Further, each dip switch is a hardware module mounted directly to a corresponding indoor unit, resulting in an increase in parts costs. Furthermore, the indoor unit must have a separate microcomputer port for receiving information set by the installer using the dip switch. Thus, there is considerable difficulty in developing such an indoor unit. Moreover, a larger number of indoor units increases the number of digits of numbers to be set therein. In this case, each indoor unit has to be equipped with a dip switch capable of setting a larger number, which leads to an increase in the number of ports of the microcomputer in the indoor unit, connected to the dip switch, and in turn necessitates the replacement of the indoor unit microcomputer with a high-price chip.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system having a plurality of indoor units installed inside of a predefined space for performing air conditioning and an outdoor unit installed outside of the space for controlling the indoor units, wherein the indoor units store unique production numbers assigned respectively thereto in manufacturing processes thereof, and the outdoor unit recognizes the production numbers of the indoor units and automatically sets addresses in the indoor units on the basis of the recognized production numbers, and a method for controlling the same.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of an air conditioning system comprising a plurality of indoor units each adapted to suck indoor air, perform a heat exchange operation for the sucked indoor air with a heat exchange medium and discharge the heat-exchanged air, each of the indoor units including a production number storage area defined in a memory which is installed to prevent a corresponding one of the indoor units from being subject to a data loss when a power failure occurs, the production number storage area storing information about a unique production number assigned to the corresponding indoor unit in a manufacturing process thereof; and an outdoor unit connected in common to the plurality of indoor units and adapted to perform a heat exchange operation for the heat exchange medium with external air, the outdoor unit recognizing first digit values of the production numbers stored in the indoor units, recognizing the remaining digit values of ones of the production numbers whose first digit values are the same, sequentially setting addresses in ones of the indoor units corresponding to the production numbers having the same first digit values on the basis of the recognized first and remaining digit values, and then setting addresses in ones of the indoor units corresponding to ones of the production numbers whose first digit values are not the same, in the same manner as that performed with respect to the indoor units corresponding to the production numbers having the same first digit values.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an air conditioning system, comprising the steps of a), by an outdoor unit, transmitting a setting start signal indicative of the start of an automatic address setting operation to a plurality of indoor units; b), by the outdoor unit, sequentially recognizing production numbers of the indoor units and setting addresses in the indoor units on the basis of the recognized production numbers; and c), by the indoor units, storing the addresses set at the step b) and transmitting and receiving data to/from the outdoor unit on the basis of the set addresses, respectively.